Many types of printers, including thermal transfer printers, include a roll or long sheet of media, such as labels, continuous paper, and the like, stored within the housing of the printer. A printing operation typically only prints on a portion of the media stored within the printer. Therefore, many printers include a cutting assembly to separate printed-upon media from media that is yet to be printed upon. Some cutting assemblies include a moveable blade and a stationary blade to cut the media. In some designs, one of the blades is angled and the other is straight so that the entire width of the media is not cut at the same instant.
In any case, most designs include a cutting assembly with a separate housing that is fixed to the housing of the printer itself. Therefore, it is possible for cut media to fall into a first gap between the cutting assembly housing and the printer housing. In addition, the cutting assembly housing typically includes a second gap to provide space for the motion of the movable blade during a cutting operation. Therefore, it is possible for the movable blade to push cut media into the second gap during a cutting operation. In this case, the cut media can become lodged between the cutting assembly housing and the printer housing. Further still, the cutting assembly typically includes a third gap between the movable blade and an exit chute to provide space for the motion of the movable blade during a cutting operation. Therefore, it is possible for media to fall into the third gap during a cutting operation. Further still, the media in some printers may include an adhesive backing. The adhesive backing may adhere to the movable blade during a cutting operation. The media may be difficult to remove from the cutting assembly depending on its design.
Considering the limitations of previous cutting assemblies for printers, an improved design is needed.